Last June’s Lime Gulch fire should prove that a rapid aerial assault on wildfires is a very effective way to quickly knock them down and prevent them from becoming monumental events. If we rely on our slow-moving government to study every permutation, every possible twist and turn, in order for Colorado to start its own aerial firefighting fleet, it will take forever. Typically, a palsy sets in and no decisions are made while the system chokes on more studies.

A better approach is to pass the bill to establish the fleet, then appropriate more money where needed as the program progresses. This way, we will be assessing real needs, not hypothetical ones, and fighting dangerous fires in the meanwhile.

Robert D. Tonsing, Morrison

This letter was published in the Feb. 1 edition.

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